I can’t add much to what has already been said on the internet/reviews/interviews of all of Mark Kozelek’s projects. If you haven’t listened to Red House Painters before then be warned its some of the saddest music. This song “Mistress” is actually upbeat compared to everything else plus he has some distant distortion going on that really works out nicely.

Windy & Carl don’t get the credit they deserve, I mean they run a wonderful record store called Stormy in Michigan, they release on Kranky and have been doing this sound longer than most that are still in the game, the noisy and lovely post rock game.

This High Places song is everything I wanted Mum to do after their first record, this is a very well written about band that deserves all the love they’ve received. Highly Recommended.

Self Titled Magazine posted an amazing mix that was done by Michna and curated by SV4(Owner of Ghostly International), here is what they said:
“It all started with a record sleeve, a minimal blend of Michael Segal’s Boy Cat Bird characters and a Pacman-like logo plastered across a stark black background. Weighing the potential purchase based on nothing but a record shop recommendation and the cover’s simple, striking design, we scooped up Ghostly International’s inaugural Idol Tryouts compilation despite not even knowing who Dabrye or Matthew Dear were.

With Ghostly’s 10th anniversary looming on the horizon this year and School of Seven Bells just weeks away from gracing the cover of self-titled’s third digital issue, we thought we’d ask one of the label’s most promising new signings (Michna, a beat conductor/DJ/former Secret Frequency Crew member who also goes by the name Egg Foo Young) to craft a mix of Ghostly’s scene-spanning influences. He’s joined by Ghostly founder Sam Valenti IV (a.k.a. SV4), a sometime DJ who helped curate Michna’s crate. Together the pair emerged with a heady 60 minutes of melancholic dance music (Pantha Du Prince, Sascha Funke), Italodisco (Giorgio Moroder), essential electro (Kraftwerk), and an ambient house anthem (Orbital’s “Halcyon & On & On”) that left self-titled scrambling for our old copy of The Brown Album. Indie kids are encouraged to uncross their arms and join the fray, as the set ends in a mascara-smeared trifecta of the Depeche Mode, the Smiths and the Cure.” Read more here

Since we’re coming down to the final days for the ISO50 snowboard giveaway we thought it might be nice to do giveaways periodically. This one is simple, the first person to comment with all the correct artist names and song titles for all 4 songs below receives 2 free Tycho song of their choice. As for the image above, it has no relation to the post, just a photograph/invitation by Icecrasher on deviantART.

Digging thru promos can really mess with your head because you just want to find those collection of songs right away that you’ll listen to forever. So what do you do when you don’t find anything? you go back to old favorites or good suggestions from friends and this song by The Wake was the latest recommendation from 800beloved’s frontman Sean Lynch. You can just tell 30 seconds into the song “Man, these guys were probably great but they were definitely overshadowed by The Cure”. Where do you think John Hughes was when this song came out? this is perfect for one of his teen heartbreak films.

IDM I always felt was just a few steps away from being for really big but the majority of the fan base didn’t like to share or support, its like they wanted to keep their precious music to themselves and make it more obscure and not go to the shows to keep the musicians going. Mr. Projectile might of had a gem on his hands when he put out his album Sinking which featured a vocal by a girl named Amy Turany who I thought might of done more work but it seems like this is the last thing she ever sang on.

Montreal has always had a forward thinking music scene, I remember going to the Mutek Festival years ago and seeing electronic vinyl shops thrive, that definitely put a smile on my face. One man Marc Leclair also known as Akufen put an outstanding record together called Musique Pour 3 Femmes Enceintes which I highly recommend.
For how cold it is in Montreal, I always pictured Marc making this song 236e Jour by a window and he just felt the first perfect weather day of the year where the breeze is heavy and every window needs to be opened.

Grizzly Bear and Dntel on the same track, oh its a music bloggers dream to share with friends that come and visit. I really like the catchiness of this song after the breakdown, Dntel did such good work with the builds and sequencing of the 6+ min track. I couldn’t think of better voices to accompany his music than Grizzly Bear, yes even better than Mr. Gibbard in my opinion.

Jan Jelinek does many different styles of minimal electronic music, some under this moniker and also Farben. In 2001 “Loop-Finding-Jazz-Records” came out on Germany’s ~scape label which has artists like Portable, Pole, Deadbeat, etc. The record has so much detail yet sounds like its really small as if you could put it in the palm of your hand, It’s like peeking in and looking at all the gears that run an old expensive pocket watch. You can hear all these thousands of little pieces working away by turning and hissing. If you like “Do Dekor” then the whole album is worth picking up.

Christ. is unbelievable, this song is pretty much a well timed synth solo that is full of character, the synth has this muted oboe sound to it but maybe the reed is cracked, I know that might sound crappy but there’s plenty of charm all the way thru.

Vancouver’s Circlesquare has his own sound because of slow tempo that he makes all his music in and his singing style. This ends up being a great chance for him to get his name dropped when explaining music since I use it all the time when trying to explain a sound that is a little more then just dark, slow and lush. The breakdown at 2:42 and on is remarkable in my opinion, I know its super simple but perfectly written to bring back a song that might of not grabbed you right from the beginning.

*really quick side note: I wish you could all hear how loud the tuba music is downstairs from me while I try to write about Jelinek, Christ., and Circlesquare, its something to experience, I know I play music loud but the guy below me LOOOOVES tubas on a level that I can’t touch as a fellow music lover. Okay, back to this post…

It’s hard to know who’s going to be the next Broken Social Scene, Fleet Foxes, or any big indie folk act since there everywhere. My face sometimes feels so naked during a show since i’m the only one without a beard but i’m there for the music and also lets be honest the kind ladies that make it out to these shows. One band I want to see is Elm From Arm they just sound fun and have that Broken Social Scene build to their songs but with half the band members.

You had your fill on MGMT, Passion Pit, and Crystal Stilts or Castles in 2008 but its 2009 and you need that next big underdog party jam to get your friends to the bars and excited again. New Villager’s Rich Doors is exactly that track, the catchy hand claps with big stomps just scream out for your attention. All this week I’ve been saying the lyrics over and over in my head and out loud: “You got the right sound rich enough to take them down, your breakin’ new doors whatcha you think you lookin’ for!”.

I’m not going to lie but when friends early on in my music collecting career tried to play me Seefeel to get me to like it, I wasn’t really feeling it. I’m guessing they always played me the wrong song because I never bought a record once by them, even the Warp Records releases. This song from the Starethrough EP has me all the way though with its hypnotic vocals and rhythm, which leads me to where some of the Gang Gang Dance and OOIOO sound comes from.

I remember buying my first Christopher Willits songs that were on a compilation called E • A • D • G • B • E which had some minimal guitar sounds that i’ve never experienced. Here’s a guy that plays guitar daily like millions of people and it took this long to have someone make recordings this pretty and different sounding?

MF Doom over some strings and horns will never fail once and Ghostface being in the song doesn’t hurt the cause either. I picture this song “Angels” as the backdrop of a 50’s rainforest themed restaurant that offered ballroom dancing in the evenings(maybe i’m thinking of Casablanca?) but i’m sure it was used for Charlie’s Angels in some way, right?

The Knife is back but only half back and without Olof. Before I get into this video, how was the name The Knife not taken by a hair metal band in the 80s? Well if you want to see darkness then look no further than this video. The one part when all you see is a bed of bodies in the empty pool outside of the mansion will not get out of my head, the shots are wonderful all the way thru. Congrats to Mute on putting a budget together in a crazy time during early 2009 and delivering a wonderful piece like this.

I’ll be posting more about 800beloved very soon but to just give you a taste here is the video for “Go”. Sean Lynch has one of the best voices you’ll hear debut in 2009. Think who sings colder and more distant than what you hear, its like his voice is the boldest grey, you can’t even compare it Joy Division or The Cure.

The beautifully shot “White As Diamond” video by Ryan Jeffery gave me goosebumps the first time I saw it, part of me was happy that I didn’t rely on the shots color which is what usually gets me but more of the cold northern woodsy landscapes are what grabbed me.